Interlocking Hair Extensions

ABSTRACT

An interlocking hair extension is provided. The hair extensions are designed to rotate around an axis running the length of the piece and lock into place using alternating, offset teeth and magnets. The unique arrangement provides for hair extensions that can be used in both permanent and semi-permanent installations and that can be applied by a user without assistance from a third party.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to interlocking hair extensions. The invention also relates to a method of affixing the hair extensions to the natural hair of a person. The hair extensions of the present invention are designed to provide the look of fuller and longer hair to the user. The field of the invention encompasses hair extensions for both cosmetic and functional uses.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Although it is said that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, people have long sought to influence this determination through various personal enhancements and fashion accoutrements. The human head of hair has not been immune from this endeavor. Throughout history, people have resorted to beads, braids, ribbons, ponytails, curls, gels, dyes, and a wide assortment of haircuts and fashions to enhance personal presentation. Evidence of the long history of human hair functioning as a fashion statement is seen in all types of archeologic and anthropologic evidence, such as the elaborate hair styles that are ubiquitous in ancient busts of women from the earliest days of Roman civilization. It is clear that for thousands of years people have weaved, braided, cut, fashioned, dyed, and otherwise creatively coiffed their tresses. Although hair styles have consistently changed over time, one thing remains constant: the need for hair.

Human heads, unfortunately, are not always accommodating to the calls of fashion. For those not blessed with a full mane, the simple options are wigs, weaves, or razors. Under current fashions, the latter option is often chosen by men and is generally seen as an enhancement to their sex appeal and overall appearance of strength and wisdom. Women are not so lucky. When a woman has thin or balding hair her options are usually just wigs and weaves. Fortunately, today's technology allows for beautiful weaves or hair extensions that provide a very natural appearance of a full head of hair. However, the application of hair extensions to a person's head can be a complex and costly process that can also damage the person's natural hair.

There are many different types of hair extensions and numerous ways of affixing them to a person's hair. Some of the popular types include tape-ins, glue-ins, clip-ins, head bands, and even extensions manually sewn into the existing hair. There are numerous challenges associated with these methods of attaching hair weaves to a person's head. Hair weaves that are affixed by glue or tape can damage the hair during removal. Also, chemicals from the glue or tape can initiate allergic reactions in certain people and can also induce rashes and other irritations to the scalp. Hair weaves that are attached by clipping usually require back-combing of the natural hair to provide a seamless appearance. This back-combing usually damages the person's thin, natural hair by introducing knots and by pulling out strands of the already thin palette of natural hair. The obvious problems with headband hair extensions is that they are not overly secure and they are hard to hide. While a thicker headband provides more gripping of the forehead, they are visually obvious to the casual observer. Thin headbands are less noticeable but are prone to slippage and accidental removal.

In addition to the above mechanical difficulties, successfully augmenting through hair weaves what nature omitted generally requires time and/or expert assistance. For example, sewn-in weaves require the assistance of a professional hair stylist to both install and to later adjust. As the person's natural hair grows, the weave begins to sag from the scalp, which is the preferred place to locate the weave because it is more easily hidden next to the head. With each passing week after installation, the weave looks more and more unnatural as it slowly moves away from the scalp. For this reason, if a person chooses to use sewn-in hair extensions then the extension must be resewn on a regular basis. This is inconvenient and expensive.

The prior art has various examples of ferromagnetic applications used in hair treatments. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 9,125,445 to Bullock et al. discloses a hair accessory-type wig for covering a bald patch. The wig may be disguised as a woman's headband and has a comb slideably affixed to a longitudinal piece of an elastic loop. The elastic loop is looped around the person's hair and the comb is used to affix the hair piece to the natural hair. The comb may be attached to the elastic piece using tongue and groove, magnetic, track, or similar types of common arrangements. U.S. Pat. No. 3,516,422 to Bechtold et al. discloses a false eyelash that is affixed by magnetic attraction to the user's eyelid. The hair of the false eyelashes is attached to a plastic strip with a magnetic track. The user's eyelid is painted with a mixture of 80% by weight of finely divided iron ore to provide the magnetic attraction to the eyelash piece. U.S. Patent Application No. 2008/0223390 to Brown teaches a hair extension method and tool that bonds a hair braid to an existing lock of hair using an electro-magnetically curable adhesive. U.S. Patent Application No. 2016/0135531 to Ezechukwu discloses a hair extension cap that is fit about the user's head. The cap has numerous points of attachment for hair extensions that are snapped onto a grid. The cap is secured to the user's forehead via an adjustable band. Adjustments to the tightness of the band can be made overlapping the strips of the band and securing using common fastening means such as snaps, hook-and-loop fasteners, and magnets.

There exists a need in the art for a hair extension that does not ruin or damage the person's natural hair during application of the extension and upon its removal. There also exists a need for a hair extension that is simple to apply and easy to adjust without the need for professional stylists. There also exists a need in the art for hair extensions that can maintain a secure hold on the natural hair in both short and long-term applications. One severe disadvantage of the prior art devices is that there are no weaves that offer both permanent and semi-permanent treatment from the same application. Head bands are obviously not permanent, while glue-ins, tape-ins, and sew-ins are not semi-permanent. There exists a need for a hair extension that can be left in the hair for long-term application but also removed on demand. There further exists a need for a hair extension that eliminates back-combing, gluing, and taping and the associated damage to the person's natural hair.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a top view of two hair wefts of the present invention aligned for engagement.

FIG. 2 illustrates a perspective view of a hair weft of the present invention.

FIG. 3 illustrates a side view of two hair wefts of the present invention prior to engagement.

It will be appreciated that the drawings are illustrative and not limiting of the scope of the invention which is defined by the appended claims. The embodiments shown accomplish various aspects and objects of the invention. It is appreciated that it is not possible to clearly show each element and aspect of the invention in a single figure, and as such, multiple figures are presented to separately illustrate the various details of the invention in greater clarity.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Reference will now be made in detail to the presently preferred embodiments of the invention. There are also representative examples of the invention illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Throughout the following detailed description, the same reference numeral refers to the same elements in all figures.

The present invention provides a hair extension or weft of hair that can be easily applied to a person's natural hair and also easily removed for both permanent and semi-permanent installations. Referring to FIGS. 1-3, which are top, perspective, and side views of an embodiment of the invention, there is a weft 10 of additional hair 20 for application to a person's natural hair. Weft 10 comprises support strip 30 onto which additional hair 20 is affixed. Additional hair 20 can be any type of hair that a person may wish to supplement or even to replace their natural hair. It is common in the hair styling industry to use either natural human hair or synthetic hair but other types of hair, such as animal hair, are also suited for use with the present invention.

Support strip 30 is made of any material that can support and hold additional hair 20 and magnets 40 in place against a person's scalp. An important consideration for the material of support strip 30 is the comfort to the user if weft 10 is to be placed in a permanent installation. Nylon, spandex, cotton, polyester, stretchable mesh, or other types of soft, pliable materials are well-suited to the application. In one embodiment of the invention, additional hair 20 and magnets 40 are attached by sewing onto support strip 30. One advantage of attachment by sewing to support strip 30 is that after installation of weft 10 the user can style and treat her hair using blow dryers, curling irons, and the like without concern about melting glues or tapes that might otherwise be used for attaching these items to support strip 30. To accommodate sewing as a method of attachment, it is desirable that support strip 30 be made of a woven, textile-like material. Furthermore, the present invention is not restrictive of the length of support strip 30. Any length suitable to the application is acceptable and the ultimate length will largely depend on user preference.

According to the present invention, magnetics 40 are affixed along a top edge of support strip 30. In one embodiment of the invention, discrete magnets are placed in regular intervals along the length of support strip 30. In another embodiment of the invention, a magnetic strip is affixed along a top edge of support strip 30. The magnets can be made from any type of ferromagnetic material, including cobalt, iron, nickel, gadolinium, dysprosium, permalloy, awaruite, wairakite, magnetite, and combinations thereof. The magnetizing of magnets 40 can occur either before or after attachment to support strip 30. Magnets 40 can be affixed to support strip 30 by any number of methods commonly known in the art, including gluing, taping, hook-and-latch-type attachments, and sewing. In a preferred embodiment, magnets 40 are attached to support strip 30 by sewing. To accommodate heat treatments to the person's natural hair and to additional hair 20 without causing undue discomfort to the person or damage to the natural or additional hair, magnets 40 can be encased in a polymer coating that prevents or slows the absorption of heat by magnets 40. Encasement in a polymer coating also prevents the hair from being damaged, bent or broken by any sharp edges of magnets 40. Magnets 40 can also be placed in small sacs with sewing holes on the edges for simple affixation to support strip 30.

As shown in FIGS. 1-3, teeth 50 are affixed to the furthest end of support strip 30 distal to additional hair 20. Referring, to FIG. 2, teeth 50 are placed in an alternating, gapped arrangement pointing in an upward direction from the horizontal plane of support strip 30. In this manner, two wefts 10 of the present invention can be placed back-to-back (as shown in FIG. 1) such that teeth 50 of each weft 10 engage and interlock with each other when wefts 10 are rotated about a horizontal axis defined by the length of support strip 30. To prevent damage to any natural or synthetics hairs during rotation and locking of wefts 10, teeth 50 are preferable comprised of a soft, plastic-like material that will grip but not cut or otherwise tangle the hairs. Suitable materials include polymeric material such as molded nylons, which are well known in the art. In one embodiment of the invention, teeth 50 are molded in a single, integral piece from the same material used to embed magnets 40. This integrated teeth/magnet holding piece is a preferred embodiment because it provides extra structural support for teeth 50 during the interlocking action. As it is desired to maintain a thin profile for weft 10, teeth 50 are formed in a slight upward direction from the horizontal plane of support strip 30. Furthermore, it is preferred that teeth 50 not extend far from the top edge of support strip 30 to avoid unwanted poking or pressure on the person's scalp after installation. An advantage to using alternating, interlocking teeth 50 in the present invention is that the user can easily align wefts 10 along the seam of natural hair to be augmented without requiring outside assistance.

The present invention provides a simple hair extension that can easily be applied to a person's natural hair in either a permanent or a semi-permanent installation. To install the hair extensions of the present invention, the user first creates a seam line of the natural hair where she desires to place hair wefts 10. She then places bottom weft 60 (shown in FIG. 1) flat across the seam or comb line of her natural hair. The user then pulls a width of natural hair from above the seam and places that width over the top of bottom weft 60. She then places top weft 70 (shown in FIG. 1) on top of bottom weft 60 and the pulled-down segment of natural hair. Teeth 50 and magnets 40 ensure that the person's natural hair is squeezed between top weft 70 and bottom weft 60 and that the wefts are aligned in proper fashion. In addition, the alternating, gapped arrangement of teeth 50 provide for a secure gripping of the user's natural hair such that the wefts do not accidentally fall out or shift. The secure holding of the hair extensions of the present invention are also accomplished through the unique upward offset teeth 50 when wefts 10 are rotated and locked into place.

The present invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from its spirit or essential characteristics. The described embodiments are to be considered in all respects only as illustrative and not restrictive. The scope of the invention is, therefore, indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description. All changes that come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are to be embraced within their scope. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A hair extension weft comprising: a support strip; at least one magnet attached to said support strip; engaging members provided along an edge of said support strip; and hair affixed to said support strip; wherein said engaging members extend outward from said edge of the support strip, said weft being magnetically connectable with another weft of similar design following alignment of said engaging members of each weft.
 2. The hair extension weft of claim 1 wherein said hair is sewn onto said support strip.
 3. The hair extension weft of claim 2 wherein said hair comprises human hair.
 4. The hair extension weft of claim 1 wherein said at least one magnet is a bar magnet running the length of said support strip.
 5. The hair extension weft of claim 1 wherein said at least one magnet comprises discrete magnets spaced at intervals along the length of said support strip.
 6. The hair extension weft of claim 5 wherein said magnets are encased in a polymer coating.
 7. The hair extension weft of claim 5 wherein said magnets are encased in small sacs affixed onto said support strip.
 8. The hair extension weft of claim 1 wherein said engaging members comprise teeth affixed to said edge of said support strip in a gapped arrangement.
 9. The hair extension weft of claim 8 wherein said teeth have an upward tilt away from the horizontal plane of said support strip and are affixed along an upper portion of said edge of said support strip.
 10. The hair extension weft of claim 10 wherein the distance said teeth extend away from the horizontal plane of said support strip is less than the thickness of said weft.
 11. A hair extension weft comprising: a support strip having a lower portion, an upper portion, and an upper edge; at least one magnet attached to said upper portion of said support strip; engaging members provided along said upper edge of said support strip; and hair affixed to said lower portion of said support strip; wherein said engaging members extend outward from said upper edge of the support strip, said weft being magnetically connectable with another weft of similar design following alignment of said engaging members of each weft.
 12. The hair extension weft of claim 11 wherein said hair is sewn onto said support strip.
 13. The hair extension weft of claim 11 wherein said at least one magnet is a bar magnet running the length of said support strip.
 14. The hair extension weft of claim 11 wherein said at least one magnet comprises discrete magnets spaced at intervals along the length of said support strip.
 15. The hair extension weft of claim 11 wherein said at least one magnet is encased in a polymer coating.
 16. The hair extension weft of claim 11 wherein said engaging members comprise teeth affixed to said upper edge of said support strip in a gapped arrangement.
 17. The hair extension weft of claim 16 wherein said teeth have an upward tilt away from the horizontal plane of said support strip and are affixed along an upper portion of said edge of said support strip.
 18. The hair extension weft of claim 17 wherein the distance said teeth extend away from the horizontal plane of said support strip is less than the thickness of said weft.
 19. The hair extension weft of claim 11 wherein said at least one magnet comprises discrete magnets spaced at intervals along the length of said support strip and said engaging members comprise teeth affixed to said upper edge of said support strip in a gapped arrangement, wherein said teeth have an upward tilt away from the horizontal plane of said support strip and are affixed along an upper portion of said edge upper edge of said support strip wherein the distance said teeth extend away from the horizontal plane of said support strip is less than the thickness of said weft.
 20. A method of placing interlocking wefts of hair extensions on a person comprising: creating a seam line in the hair of a person's head; placing a bottom weft of hair along the length of said seam line; pulling a width of natural hair from above said seam line and placing said width of natural hair over said bottom weft; placing a top weft of hair on top of said bottom weft and said width of natural hair; aligning engaging members along corresponding edges of said top and bottom wefts; and magnetically affixing said top and bottom wefts to each other; wherein said top and bottom wefts are securely held to said width of natural hair via magnetic forces and the frictional resistance of said natural hair within said engaging members. 